I’ve had a bottle of Prosecco since October 2011 that I had no use for. I’m not particularly fond of bubbly and sweet wines, so it’s been sitting in the fridge taking up space. For a dinner party I had last week, I wanted to make a fruity option that would contrast the heavy chocolate cake I was going to make, and I remembered a Prosecco Gelee recipe I had seen a while back but had not tried.

Gelee is just fancy term for Jello, and the Prosecco Gelee, which contains a bit of alcohol, is basically Jello for adults. If you substitute Pectin (a citrus based gelatin) or Agar Agar (a seaweed based gelatin), the dessert can be made vegan.

The recipe called for raspberries only, but I thought I’d give variety by adding blueberries and blackberries to the Gelee as well. First the berries are macerated with some lemon juice and sugar. this will soften the berries and add a bit of sweetness in case they are under-ripe or not too sweet to begin with, like the raspberry.

Next the gelatin, or whatever gelatin substitute you decide to use, is softened with a little bit of the Prosecco.

One cup of the prosecco is cooked with some sugar in a pot until the sugar melts completely, and the gelatin prosecco mixture is added and dissolved completely. The pot is taken off the heat at this point.

The rest of the bottle of prosecco and the berries are added to the content of the pot, stirring to make sure that the sugar on the macerated berries are completely melted.

The mixture is divided among cups, and chilled in the fridge until set. The macerated fruits will float naturally to the surface of the cups.

The result is a light, delicious summer dessert. You can substitute any fruits you like, as most fruits will go with Prosecco.